60 Minutes' to Air Unprecedented Video Study on the Progression of Alzheimer's

60 Minutes this weekend will air a decade-in-the-making video by New York University Langone Medical Center Professor Jon LaPook documenting the long-term effects of Alzheimer's disease on a woman and her husband-caregiver, reports Forbes . The film chronicles how the husband's caregiving burden grows as his wife's memory steadily deteriorates, thus demonstrating what people in similar situations may eventually face. Her ordeal also took a toll on her husband, who gained weight and struggled with anxiety and panic attacks. According to LaPook, the Alzheimer's Association told 60 Minutes it is not aware of any other video study of such length documenting the progression of the disease. "People need to discuss while they are still with it what they would want if they became demented," LaPook says. "And because it's often easier to say what you would want or not want when you're young and healthy and far from death, they need to keep having those conversations as their realities keep changing." The Alzheimer's Association reports the development of biomarkers for Alzheimer's is making it possible to identify the disease and make an accurate diagnosis earlier than at any other time in history. Early diagnosis lets individuals prepare legal, financial, and end-of-life plans while they are still cognitively able to do so. LaPook says as researchers keep looking for a cure, he thinks the solution will lie in much earlier diagnosis and medication that will keep Alzheimer's at bay.